Because I've Got You Under My Skin
by MagicalMadoka
Summary: Haruka wakes up on the morning of August 16th with no memory of the past two years and a doctor telling him he survived a shooting. He swears to find the culprit.
1. Chapter 1

Haruka woke up, groggy and hungry. His eyes flickered around the room until they landed on the clock next to the bed.

11:23 AM, August 16 20XX, he read.

Haruka sat straight up in bed and immediately regretted it when his vision went cloudy from the sudden movement. Oww. He slowly laid back down. The room he laid in was a hospital room. He could tell the sunlight was strong today, but the shades were drawn, and Haruka didn't particularly feel like taking the chance of getting out of bed to open them without taking stock of things first.

The last thing he remembered was he was in the classroom after class with Takane doing work, and then he started getting chest pains. Oh. Well, at least that explained why he was in the hospital again, if not the date being off by two years and a day on the clock. Maybe the power went out while he was asleep and the clock reset, he mused.

Haruka stretched out in bed. He felt a whole lot better than he usually did after having an attack bad enough to land him in the hospital. Maybe even better than he did usually. All of his muscles felt supple and energetic.

He swung his legs out of bed and stood up experimentally. Haruka felt great, like he could run a marathon for fun. Every breath in and out of his lungs felt more refreshing, and now he was wide awake already even though he just woke up. (However, he was still hungry.) It was surreal. He knew he probably wasn't supposed to get out of bed, let alone walk around anywhere until a nurse came to check up on him, but...

Haruka took a step forward, wobbled, and tripped over his own feet, barely avoiding planting his face on the floor. Looking down at the floor, he kind of felt like he was on stilts. Had he gotten taller overnight?

He heard a clatter and turned his head to see a nurse, who had nearly dropped her tray.

"Sorry, I'll get back into bed..." he said nervously. Years of being told off by nurses had gotten to him.

She smiled nervously at him. "Just sit tight sweetie, I'm going to get the doctor."

The doctor stuck the blood pressure cuff around his arm.

"Normal."

Haruka felt a little relieved, every single test the doctors could think of was coming back normal, but at the same time he couldn't help but get the feeling that they were hiding something from him. The security guard lurking in the doorway didn't help Haruka's impression.

The doctor tapped a pen against his clipboard. "Alright, Haruka. Before I go, I have just a couple questions for you."

Haruka nodded. "Okay..."

"What day do you think today is? Please include the year."

Haruka hummed in thought. "It would be... August 16, 20YY, right?"

The doctor scribbled on his clipboard. "How old are you?"

"I'm 17."

"And what's the last thing you remember?"

"I was having chest pains at my desk at school. I must have passed out." Even remembering it was a little unpleasant. Takane...

"Thank you for your time, Haruka. I'm going to leave for now, but sometime in the next few hours, a detective is going to come and ask you some questions. You've been involved in an incident, and he wants to know a couple things."

Haruka nodded, even though he was a little wary, and thanked the doctor.

The detective handed him his badge. "Haruka, I'm Detective Ueda with the Mekakucity Police."

Haruka shook the man's hand and sat back down. The detective was a bit of a strange looking man, all pale skin and dark hair. He looked like he hadn't slept in several days.

"Late yesterday afternoon, people in the industrial district heard screaming and gunshots from a warehouse complex and called the police. When the police arrived fifteen minutes later, they found the bodies of several teenagers. You were one of only two survivors," the detective said.

The air escaped from Haruka's lungs like he'd been punched in the stomach. A murder? Him? No way.

"But late yesterday afternoon I was at school, t-there's no way I could have been part of this!" said Haruka.

The detective's expression darkened. "Haruka, according to the doctor, the last thing you remember is August 15th, 20YY, correct?"

"Yeah?"

"It's been two years since then. Today is August 16th 20XX."

Those words were like a second blow to Haruka. Two entire years? "But I don't remember any of that...! I couldn't have just disappeared for that long!"

There was a sudden sharp pain in Haruka's skull that was gone as soon as it came. He still sucked in a sharp breath.

Something occured to Haruka. "Then... Who was involved in the murder?"

"So far, we've identified five victims. Shintaro Kisaragi, Momo Kisaragi, Tsubomi Kido, Shuuya Kano, and Kousuke Seto."

Shintaro...!

The detective's expression softened a little bit. "Did you know any of the deceased?"

Haruka nodded. "I went to school with Shintaro..."

"I'm so sorry. The best thing you can do to help them is to bring the criminal to justice so their families can have resolution."

The detective reached into his bag. "Do you mind if I show you post-mortem photos? One of these teenagers wasn't carrying ID and we still aren't sure who he is."

Haruka shook his head. If he was involved in such an incident, he could at least suck it up and help identify the poor victims.

Detective Ueda handed him a photograph of a young boy, shot in the head with a handgun and crushed in the middle, like he'd been hit by a truck. His guts had spilled out and one of his arms bent at an unnatural angle. Haruka felt sick looking at it.

"Do you recognize this boy? He wasn't carrying a wallet and his phone was crushed by the murderer."

Haruka gulped. "I've never seen this boy before. What happened to him...?"

The detective looked away from Haruka, recalling something grisly. "The murderer shot him and then tossed him into traffic while he was dying."

Something hot and angry boiled inside of Haruka. Who would do such a thing? "What happened to Shintaro and his sister?"

"...They were shot multiple times in the head and chest and then dismembered."

Haruka felt the urge to throw up strongly. What must they have been feeling while this happened? What kind of fear or absolute terror?

Haruka grit his teeth. This was the work of something that couldn't even be called a human being. He would definitely help bring this monster to justice, no matter what it took.

"I'll help bring this criminal to justice no matter what!" swore Haruka.

The detective looked him in the eye. "I'm glad you're dedicated to solving this crime. Everything you know or can remember could bring us one step closer to finding the person that did this."

Haruka nodded. Nothing could get between him and finding out who did this.


	2. Chapter 2

Haruka heard a clinking from behind him. The nurse?

"Hey... What's your name?" asked Haruka.

The nurse seeemed a little surprised. "My name is Hatoko Shiratori."

"I'm Haruka, but you already know that," said Haruka.

"I do," replied Hatoko. "But it's nice to meet you, Haruka."

"You too, Hatoko."

Hatoko nodded and then put the tray down on the table and left.

Haruka yawned and walked into the bathroom, only for the mirror to catch his eye.

This was him...?

His hair had grown long and dark, darker even than his previous color, except for a few white hairs here and there.

Even more distracting than his hair was his face. He stared right into bright yellow eyes, eyes that had slit pupils like a snake's. They made him look inhuman and cruel.

As for his body, it had grown muscular and broad shouldered, much more of a man than Haruka had been at age 17. Looking at himself like this, he felt like he was in a stranger's body.

What had happened to him in the intervening two years to change his body this badly?

"Knock knock," said Hatoko.

"How about we go buy you some clothes? Don't worry, I've got permission from your doctor," said Hatoko.

Haruka nodded. He was getting awfully sick of sitting around in hospital gowns all day even though, as every doctor he'd seen attested, he was in perfect health now.

"For now, I've borrowed some clothes from a friend for you to wear. Here," Hatoko handed Haruka a stack of clothes. Haruka unfolded them to see that it was a white collared shirt, light pink sweater with a sakura pattern, and black jeans. Not exactly his style (or size), but it would do while they were shopping.

Haruka quickly undressed and redressed while Hatoko faced the wall.

"Do I have to wear my hospital bracelet while we're outside?" asked Haruka.

"You can put it in your pocket outside," answered Hatoko.

Haruka stuffed his bracelet in his pocket and they headed outside. They walked for several blocks to the closest subway station and got on the circle line. On the train, Haruka was briefly knocked off balance because the hand-holds were comparatively much lower than they were two years ago.

After they exited the train station at their stop, Haruka was greeted by the sight of a tall department store. The crowds were thick around here, and Hatoko wandered from street to street like a particularly blase lost child. Haruka was half-tempted to hold his nurse's hand so she wouldn't wander off.

Finally, they arrived at the front doorstep of the department store. The department store lobby had soft pop music playing and brightly colored tiles.

Hatoko smiled at him, "Do you want to stop in the cafe on the top floor after we buy some things for you?"

Boy would he. "Sure," Haruka said fondly.

"Good, I'm already starting to get hungry myself."

They wandered around a couple shops before Haruka saw anything he liked. It was a black jacket with plenty of unnecessary zippers and a hood, and Haruka thought it was awesome.

Hatoko noticed how Haruka immediately perked up when he saw the jacket. "Do you want it?" she asked.

Haruka nodded. To look on the bright side of his sudden transformation, he had shapely arms now and ab muscles, and he wasn't going to let them go to waste now by dressing in so many sweaters like he had when he was sick. He half-thought he could become his ideal self like this.

After a few rounds around the department store, Haruka had picked up a couple shirts and pairs of pants along with underwear and his newly beloved jacket.

He left fairly satisfied with his purchases.

"Heelllooooo, Konoha?"

A voice? Haruka looked around but couldn't find the source of it.

"Don't look so startled, it's only everyone's favorite AI, Ene~" the voice (Ene?) said.

That voice was familliar... "Takane?"

There was silence for over a minute.

"Haruka?" Takane's voice shook.

"That's me..." Haruka's inflection rose like a question. He looked around once again. "Where are you, Takane?"

"Well..." Takane paused, "I was made into an AI two years ago, on the same day you had your heart attack. And recently, my main portal to the outside world was destroyed, so now I exist from the internet. This room doesn't have anything internet-connected with a real screen, so you can just hear me right now."

"An AI? Like from movies?" it would seem like a joke or TV show pitch to Haruka if not for all of the things that had happened to him over the past couple days.

"Yeah, like that. I wouldn't lie to you over something dumb like this." There was Takane's usual grouchy tone. It relieved Haruka to hear.

"You said your main portal to the outside world was destroyed. ...Was this the August 15th massacre...?" Haruka asked with a hint of fear.

"It was," said Takane.

"Then," Haruka swallowed thickly, "Who killed all of them?"

"I was in someone's pocket until they destroyed my vessel, so I didn't get to see who did it," Takane said quickly.

Haruka tsked with frustration. Another dead end.

"But I'll help you look," promised Takane, "We can do it together."

Haruka smiled a little. "Deal."

The detective knocked on the door again.

"Come in," said Haruka. He was wearing his new clothes today and was in a good mood because of it. He was glad he'd gone shopping after all. Part of him didn't want to talk to the detective because it might ruin his good cheer.

"Haruka, we're going to take a little trip today," said the detective. "I want you to meet someone."

"Okay," agreed Haruka. "Who?"

"She calls herself Kozakura Mary."

"She's in here."

Haruka looked in wonder at this apartment. It was incredibly large for the part of the city it was in, and beautifully constructed. He half-wished he lived somewhere like this himself.

Haruka pulled himself together. Even though this building was intimidating, according to the detective, it was only one little girl who lived here, all alone.

"Stay behind me," commanded the detective. Haruka obeyed, even though he was somewhat curious.

The detective knocked on the door. They heard a scrambling inside and the sound of something knocking over before the door opened.

The girl who opened the door was short, and had short light blond hair. Most jarring about her was her bright red eyes that seemed to stare right through Haruka.

Kozakura Mary screamed.


End file.
